Slack-cable take-up means



July 14, 1925.

H. E. BREY SLACK CABLE TAKE-UP MEANS Filed March 27, 1925 2 SheetsSheet 1 A? WWW Wizii was July 14, 1925. 1,545,545

' H. E. BREY SLACK CABLE TAKE-UP MEANS Filed March 27, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l I y 0 O 1 7 i 9 l ii? Wibwss Patented July 14, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD E. BREY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSTG-NOR TO KOEHRING COMPANY,

OF MILW'AUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION.

SLACK-CABLE TAKE-UP MEANS.

Application filed March 27, 1925. Serial No. 18,849.

[0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAImLn E. BnnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slack- Cablc Take-Up Means, of which the following is a specification.

In the construction of power shovels of the portable type being commonly used today cable thrust mechanisms for operating the shovel, for crowding out and racking in the same, have been found to possess peculiar practical utility. Where such cable thrust mechanism is employed, it is desirable that some means be provided for taking up the slack in the cable intermediate the shipper shaft on the dipper supporting boom, and the operating drum by which said cable is actuated. Manual means for taking up cable slack have been proposed but, so far as I am aware, involve rather complicated manual operating and operated devices, and are required to be operated through manual intervention. Such manual devices, therefore, possess disadvantages always incident to the use of contrivances required to be manually actuated.

The object of my invention has been to produce an extremely simplified mechanism for taking up the slack in the cable thrust means above referred to.

A further object of my invention has been i to provide such a simplified take up means which operates entirely automatically so that the operator of the machine to which they are applied need pay practically no attention whatever to the proposition of cable slack.

In the carrying out of my invention I use a special design of shipper shaft and drum cable operated meansinvolving a double drum construction, one drum for crowding out purposes, a second drum for racking in purposes, with cable take up contrivances interposed therebetween and operable automatically in the normal use of the dipper or shovel.

In the accompanying drawings;

vFigure lis a diagrammatic side view in miniature of a shovel embodying the invention. K

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View through the.slack cable take up mechanism.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken about 1n the plane intermediate the two complementalv drums and showing clearly the pawl and ratchet take up devices.

Figure 4 is a side view of the crowding out drum 11, showing its notched peripheral portion or flange 11'.

It IS notbelieved necessary in order to effectively disclose this invention to those versed in the art, to refer other than generally to the crane or power shovel construct'ion.

A designates a portable shovel or crane body mounted upon a conventional type of traction base B, the body or car being equipped with the main operating drum C adapted to be rotated in opposite directions. The power mechanism for driving the operating and cable drum .C is not shown and may be of any desired type. Upon the shovel body or crane A is pivotally mounted the shovel boom D provided with sheaves at its upper end, over which dipper hoisting cable means 1 operates. This cable means isconnected with the dipper 2 in the customaryway, the dipper 2 being carried by the dlpper handle 3 comprising the spaced dipper sticks 4, which are adapted to travel back and forth on the boom D by being mounted to operate at the inner sides of the saddle members 5. The saddle members} are pivotally mountedupon the sh pper shaft 6, which is suitably supported by hearings in bracket 7 carried by the boom D. Keyed upon the shaft 6, as shown at 8, are the crowding out and racking in pinions 9, which. engaged the racks 10 on the dipper sticks 4, in the well known manner. Mounted between the bearing bracket -7 and carried by the shipper shaft 6 is a shipper drum mechanism, which comprises the crowding out drum 11 and the racking in drum 12, preferably having grooved peripheries. The drum 11 is keyed to the shaft 6 and the drum 12 loose thereon.

The drum 11 at its side facing the drum 12 is equipped with a plurality of pivoted pawls 13 and spring 14, connecting the ends of these pawls with the body of the drum 11 normally tends, to hold the noses of the pawls in engagement with the teeth 14 provided on the adjacent side of the drum 12.

The cable thrust means includes the cable 15, which winds about the drum C at opposite directions and extends from the said drum beneath guiding grooved wheels 16 mounted at the base of the boom D and from thence the cable extends to the drums 11 and 12; one end of the cable being wound about the drum 11 in one direction, up wardly, and the other end of the cable being wound about the drum 12 in an opposite or downward direction. Terminals ofthe cables will be attached to the drums 11 and 12 in any suit-able manner, as shown.

I may or may not use a brake band 17 surrounding an end flange of the drum 12, said brake band be'ing'normally under tension as by means of the spring connecting means 21, shown in Figure 3, whereby when the said brake band is used it applies a normal friction to the drum 12, to tend to hold the same against rotation.

With the construction of my invention understood as above described, the cable take up means operates as follows:

Assuming that the drum C is rotated in a clockwise direction, the lower bight of the cable, as shown in Figure 1 will have a crowding out action because it turns the drum 11 in a clockwise direction correspondingly operating the shaft 6 and the pinions 9. During this operation the pawls 13 because engaged with the teeth 14 will turn the drum 12 in a clockwise direction so that as the lower bight of the cable 15 unwinds from the drum 11, the upper bight will wind upon the drum 12. Under these conditions the drums 11 and 12 operate virtually as a single drum.

Further assuming that the cable 15 has been operated for crowding out action on the cable handle 3 as described, and the crowding out is completed, the operator reverses the direction of the movement of the drum C whereupon the crowding out drive of the pinions 9 upon the racks 10 is discontinued. In practical use at this time the shovel dipper is dropped; the effect being that the pinions 9 are given a racking in movement and while this movement may be compelled by the upper bight of the cable being hauled in, actually it is ordinarily compelled by the gravitation of the dipper handle and dipper acting upon the pinions 9 as a driving meansjto turn the shaft 6 contra-clockwise. The immediate effect of the reversal of movement of the cable 15, or in other words, the effect produced by the commencement of the racking in movement of the handle 3 is to turn the drum 11 contra-clockwise. Momentarily the drum 12 remains at a standstill owing to its inertia and the fact that it is loose upon the shaft 6. If there is any slack in the cable 15 the momentary inertia stopping action of the drum 12, and the relative movement of the drum 11 will cause the pawls 13 to be moved relatively to the teeth 14' and the drum 12, so that they click over the teeth and thus take up any slack existent in the cable means.

While I have provided a brake band 17 I wish it to be understood that its use is not necessary under most conditions for I have found that .the automatic take up means involving the relatively moving drums 11 and 12 and the ratchet mechanism thereupon will work quite effectively and satis-- factorily in the entire absence of the band 17. The said take up means is quite sensitive and since it works automatically it is very advantageous under practical conditions of service.

As seen in Figures 2 and 4, the drum 11 is provided with a notched flange as shown at 11 and this flange is for the purpose of enabling a tool to be engaged with the drum so that external force may be applied to turn the said drum thereby releasing the load on the pawls 13. Thereupon'the said pawls may be held out of engagement with the ratchet teeth 14 and the drum 12 may be permitted under these conditionsto turn freely. In this way the operation of re moving an old worn out cable, and replacing the same with a new one, is facilitated.

It will be observed from Figure 3 that the springs 14 are susceptible of having their tension adjusted by means of the use of the nuts 14. These springs by the adjustment of their tension enable the adjustment of the cable to be varied from one pound to a certain predetermined maximum. The result is accomplished by varying the pressure contacts between the pawls 13 and the ratchet teeth 14. By adjusting the tension on the springs 14 to a minimum, very little force is required to move one drum with respect to the other, and consequently the tension on the operating cable will be at the maximum degree. After the springs are adjusted to increase the engaging pressure of the pawls 13 on the teeth 14* greater force will necessarily be required to shift one drum with respect to the other, and under these conditions the cable will operate somewhat more loosely.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In power shovel mechanism of the class described, a supporting boom, a dipper mechanism comprising a dipper and handle connected with the said boom, shipper mechanism for the dipper handle comprising cable thrust means, and automatic means for taking up any slack created in the operation of the cable thrust means.

2. In power shovel mechanism of the class described, a supporting boom, a dipper mechanism comprising a dipper and handle connected with 'the' said boom,

' l ated in the operation of the cable means.

3. In power shovel mechanism, in combination, a supporting boom, a dipper, a dipper-handle connected with the boom, shi

per mechanism for said handle, and cab e l thrust means connected with the shipper mechanism, said shipper mechanism including automatic cable take up means.

4. In power shovel mechanism, inconibination, a supporting boom, a dipper,a dipper handle connected with the boom, shipper mechanism for said handle, and cable thrust means'connected with the ship per mechanism, said shipper mechanism including automatic cable take up means comprising complemental drums with which the cable thrust means are connected and means intermediate said drums for taking up the slack in the cable thrust means.

5. In power shovel mechanism, in combination, a supporting boom, a dipper, a

dipper handle connected with the boom, shipper mechanism for said handle, and cable thrust means connected with the ship per mechanism, said shipper mechanism including automatic cable take up means comprising complemental drums with which.

the cable thrust means are connected and means intermediate said drums for taking up the slack in the cable-thrust means, including automatic operating ratchet mechanism acting between the drums.

6. In power shovel mechanism, in combination, a boom, a dipper having a dipper handle connected with the boom, means for crowding out the dipper handle and racking it in, including a shipper drum mechanism, cable means for actuating said shipper drum mechanism, said shipper drum mechanism comprising automatically acting cable slack take up means operable on the racking in movement of the handle.

7. In power shovel mechanism, in combination, a boom, a dipper having a dipper handle connected with the boom, means for crowding out the dipper hande and racking it in, including a shipper drum mechanism, cable means for actuating said shipper drum mechanism, said shipper drum mechanism comprising automatically acting cable slack take up means operable on the racking in movement of the handle and comprising complemental drums ratchet mechanism intermediate said drums, one of the drums being adapted to rack inthe handle, the other one for crowding out the. hande, the said ratchet mechanism being operative to take I up slack in the cable as an incident to the racking in movement of the handle. I

v 8. In power shovel mechanism, in combination, a boom, having a dipper handle connected with the .boom, a shipper shaft on the boom, ship er pinions keyed to said shaft engaging the handle, cable thrust means including a cable, a crowding out cable drum to which said cable is secured keyed to said shaft, a racking in cable drum 'to which said cable is secured, loose on said shaft, cable slack take up mechanism between said drums operating to. cause the two drums to work as one on the crowding out action of the crowding out drum and effective to permit relative movement of the .drums for cable slack take up operation on' the racking in movement of the drums.

9. An automatic cable slack take up means for cable thrust mechanism of power shovels comprising a shipper shaft assembly, including a shaft, crowding out and racking in pinions thereon, and shipper drum mechanism on the shaft including a crowding out drum keyed; to the shaft, a racking in drum loose on the shaft, and cable slack v take up ratchet mechanism between the drums.

'10. An automatic cable slack take up means for cable thrust mechanism of power shovels comprisinga shipper shaftassembly including a shaft, crowding out and racking in pinions thereon, and shipper drum mechanism on the shaft including a crowd ing out drum keyed to the shaft, a racking in drum loose on the shaft, and cable slack take up ratchet mechanism between the drums, and an automatic brake acting. on the rackingin drum.

11. In power shovel mechanism, in combination, a supporting boom, a dipper, a dipper handleconnected with the boom, shipper mechanism for said handle, and cable thrust means including a cable connected with the shipper mechanism, said Cit shipper mechanism including automatic" cable take up means comprisingcomp-lemental. drums with which the cable thrust means are connected and means intermediate said drums for taking up the slack in the cable thrust. means, including means for varying the normal tension of the cable.

12'. In power shove-l mechanism, in combination, a supporting boom, a dipper, a dipper handle connected with the boom, shipper mechanism for said handle, and cable thrust means including a cable connected with the ship-per mechanism, said shipper mechanism including automatic cable take up means comprising complemental drums with whichthe cable thrust means are connected and means intermediate said drums for taking up the slack in the cable thrust means, comprising pawl ill and ratchet mechanism, and means for varying the pressure action of the pawl with respect to the ratchet part for varying the normal tension of the cable.

3. In power shovel mechanism, in combination, a boom, a dipper having a dipper handle connected with the boom, means for crowding out the dipper handle and racking it in, including a shipper drmn mechanism, cable means for actuating said shipper drum mechanism, said shipper drum mechanism comprising automaticall acting cable slack take up means opera le on the racking in movement of the handle, and means cooperative with the take up means aforesaid for varying the normal tension of the cable means.

14. In power shovel mechanism, in combination, a supporting boom, a dip-per, a dipper handle connected with the boom, shipper mechanism for said handle, and cable thrust means connected with the shipper mechanism, said shipper mechanism including automatic cable take u means comprising complemental drums with which the cable thrust means are connected and means intermediate said drum for taking up the slack in the cable thrust means, and means on one of the drums whereby to apply a tool thereto to render inoperative the take up means and facilitate the removal and replacement of the cable thrust means.

15. In power shovel mechanism, in combination, a boom, having a dipper handle connected with the boom, a shipper shaft on the boom, shipper pinions keyed to said shaft engaging the handle, cable thrust means including a cable, a crowding out cable drum to which said cable is secured to said shaft, 3, racking in cable drum to which said cable is secured, loose on said shaft, cable slack take up mechanism between said drums operating to cause the two drums to work as one on the crowding out action of the crowding out drum and effective to permit relative movement of the drums for cable slack take up operation on the racking in movement of the drum, said crowding out drum being provided with a notched external flange to which a tool may be applied to turn the drum to render the cable slack take up mechanism inactive and permit free turning movement of the racking in cable drum for cable removing and replacement purposes.

16. In a power shovel mechanism, in com bination, a supporting boom, a dipper, a dipper handle connected with the boom, shipper mechanism for said handle including complemental drums, means for operat ing said drums, a connection between said drums to permit relative movement in one direction, and means for varying the tension of said connection.

17. In a power shovel mechanism, in combination, a supporting boom, a dipper, a

dipper handle connected with the boom,

shipper mechanism for said handle including complemental drums, means for operating said drums, a connection between said drums to permit relative movement in one direction, and means for varying the tension of said connection, the said connection comprising pawl and ratchet devices and adjustable tension springs connected with the pawl devices.

In testlmony whereof I aifix my signature.

HAROLD E. BREY. 

